Oh, Teresa Giudice. Didn't your very sweet mama ever teach you that if you don't have anything nice to say, zip it? I'm guessing that old-fashioned adage came before the era of reality TV! In the days following the first installment of the circus of crazy known as the Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion, all eyes are on the ladies as they scramble to defend their deplorable behavior.

In a Bravo blog I'm suuuuure she wrote herself, Teresa sorta, maybe, kinda, a little bit takes accountability while also pointing fingers at others. Just to be fair – all the ladies are behaving similarly! Let's get this started.

"Like every Housewife in every city, I think filming the reunion is one of the worst parts of our job. It's a long, long day, it always gets ugly, it's hard to sit through and even harder to watch. At least this year I knew what I was walking into: I knew the other cast members, even my family, were going to band together to bash me. Last year was a total shock. This year was just sickening and sad."

"They're so desperate to make me look bad. Here's the thing: I don't care. I know who I am and I don't need to prove it to any of them. And I'm certainly not going to waste my off-camera, family time looking up words in the dictionary and making obsessive lists about them."

Joe Giudice has been in trouble with the law for what seems like YEARS! The Real Housewies of New Jersey star recently rejected a plea bargain offered by New Jersey prosecutors in his identity fraud case, instead opting to go to trial and plead not-guilty.

Joe's trial date was initially set for October 1, 2012, but according to Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jay McCann it will likely be postponed until 2013.

“The chances of it going on that day are slim,” Mr. McCanntold Celebuzz. “We are going to have to get closer to the day to see if the judge will have time.”

“The court tries to give preference to cases for those who are incarcerated first,” he added. According to Mr. McCann it is likely that Joe will take the stand in his own defense and the trial will take place sometime before June 2013.

Poor, little Gia Giudice often seems like the only mature person in her family — extended family included — and it appears that once again this may be the case! Gia’s eleventh birthday party was this past Saturday and after much ado about whether or not Joe and Melissa Gorga were invited to said party, it appears they sort of attended.

Here’s the back story: Joe had taken to Twitter, the grown-up way of communicating with one’s sister, to put Teresa Giudice on blast for not inviting his family to Gia’s party. Teresa retaliated with an interview claiming, ‘oh yes, she did too invite them; the invites just hadn’t gotten there yet’.

In yet anotherinterview Melissa co-signed the invitation was received and made sure to inform everyone that the Gorgas would be there to represent. It’s called a PHONE, people. You know, antiquated technology by today’s standards — use one!

Gia’s party happened at a place called Space Odyssey, sans Real Housewives of New Jersey cameras, but that didn’t stop an employee (who also happens to be a fan) from gossiping on the interwebs about what took place at the shin-dig.

Here’s what transpired: An employee named Natalia Velandia who was working during the party tweeted that Teresa and Melissa got into a fight at the event. “Confused if this lady here for Teresa’s giudice party is Melissa Gorga cause like that’s my b*tch,”Natalia wrote.

When it was confirmed that it was indeed, Melissa, Natalia tweeted: “I wanted to take a picture with her but I couldn’t cause her and Teresa were arguing and my boss would’ve killed me.” A screenshot is below!

While it seems entirely plausible that Teresa and Melissa would get into a fight at Gia’s birthday, AllAboutTRH did some digging and interviewed a different employee who claims that was not the case!

“The party had 40 to 50 kids and Teresa’s oldest daughter performed with her dance group. They were also celebrating Milania’s birthday and I know Gia grabbed her on stage too,” the employee, who wished to remain anonymous, revealed. The source explains she saw Melissa and Teresa “talking and they were very close to each other. It was really loud but it didn’t look like they were arguing.”

The most shocking — and I mean shocking — reveal in all of this is that Teresa’s brother apparently NEVER CAME TO THE PARTY (yes that necessitated all-caps)!

“I saw Melissa walk in and waited for Joe Gorga to come in because there were a lot of couples at the birthday and I assumed since Joe was the God father he would be at Gia’s birthday but he surprisingly never showed up!,” the source recounts. Say what? Joe G-to-the-Orga “I love my family” never even made an appearance?

Confirming that Joe was a no-show was Space Odyssey owner Elvira Grau who also denies that Melissa and Teresa had an altercation. I am sure Melissa, Teresa, and Joe will all have a defense and a reason for his absence — and it better be a good one — but for now alls quiet on the New Jersey front with no one blabbing on Twitter. We’ll have to wait and see!

Moving right along, remember when Joe Giudicewas indicted for ID Fraud? NorthJersey.com reports that on Monday, Joe appeared in court and pleaded Not Guilty to wrongfully using documentation to illegally obtain a driver’s license and impersonation charges. According to Joe’s attorney, Miles Feinstein, he also rejected a plea agreement that offered to cap any prison sentence at five years in exchange for a guilty plea.

Mr. Feinstein believes the deal was unreasonably harsh and not equitable to deals offered to other clients facing similar charges. “I believe that because of Joe’s celebrity he is being treated differently,” he alleged. “It’s totally unfair.” Joe faces up to ten-years in prison if found guilty in a court of law!

ARE YOU SURPRISED JOE GORGA SKIPPED GIA’S BIRTHDAY PARTY? THOUGHTS ON THE NEWS? SHOULD JOE HAVE ACCEPTED THE PLEA AGREEMENT?